Brasserie Bread, Banksmeadow – Baking with Brioche
OH HAI!
There’s nothing I love more than the smell of freshly baked bread (um except the smell of hot chocolate) and when Mei told me about a new Brioche class at Brasserie Bread (1737 Botany Rd, Banksmeadow) I couldn’t stop thinking about it and Helen and I dropped everything to attend the first class. The Ninja has also come along for the ride and super props to him for taking all the photos cos I was covered in flour. I’m a messy baker.
I’d never been to the store before so we made sure we arrived early to have a wander around.
The dudes on the night shift are working hard preparing the bread for the next day’s orders ready to be delivered all across Sydney.
Our baking instructor and Brasserie Bread CEO, Michael Klausen introduces himself and chats to us about the origins of brioche while slicing some uh slices for us to try. The brioche is warm and buttery and our group grin at each other with anticipation. The classes are small around 5-10 students per session which is great cos the class is hands on so Michael and Instructor Don Parsons are able to chat to each person and show them techniques without slowing the class down.
Michael slices some dough off a brioche dough that has been prepared earlier, grabs a segment and expertly rolls it into a smooth looking ball in seconds.
Just roll it into a ball he says! I start muttering as my lump of dough goes more cube shaped than spherical. Can you tell it’s my first time baking bread haha but never fear for Don will come to the rescue!
The balls (some more round than others) are popped into oiled tins, the middle bit stretched a bit into a pear shaped lump and then twisted so a smaller ball sits on top. Yeah I didn’t explain that well but tadah!
Plaiting the brioche is addictive and I wish i could make a super giant plait.
My goodness that’s alot of butter. No wonder brioche is so tasty. I love butter. Mini buns were also created with half an apricot stuck in the middle as well as ‘boats’ filled with either jam or chocolate or um both. Some of us went a little overboard in the filling (heh geddit? Overboard?).
Mah tray of brioche about to be baked. The sticky buns were particularly messy to create but the sugary cinnamon mixture was oh so worth it in the end!
The coulibiac is next- a French take on the Russian kulebiaka, a hot pastry pocket that traditionally holds salmon, rice, mushrooms and hard-boiled eggs (thanks Helen!). With our version the salmon is layered with a mushroom duxelle, a layer of mustard and some hard boiled egg slices.
The salmon is wrapped in the crepe and then in the brioche mixture so it won’t be soggy and then shallow cuts into the dough are made using scissors for the scales
If wishes were fishes we’d all cast nets in the sea…
While our trays of brioche are proofing and the coulibiacs are in the oven we try a selection of Brasserie Breads sourdough, baguette and quinoa & soy loaf served with taramasalata, olive oil and provolone cheese.
Here fishy fishy fishy… With our freshly baked coulibiacs we go next door to the cafe and sit down for dinner with a glass of wine and enjoy our creations
Mmm innards
After dinner we return to the kitchen to create our own brioche dough. Flour, fresh yeast, sugar and salt are combined in a bowl and then milk and eggs are added to create a wet goopy looking dough. After scraping the mixture out onto the work bench we pull, scrape, stretch and slap the mixture, working our frustrations of the week into the rhythm of brioche creation. A crapload of butter is worked into the dough and we continue with our brioche
The Baking with Brioche Workshop runs for three hours on selected Thursday nights and costs $130. The next scheduled classes are July 1, July 22, August 12 and August 26. Bookings: 1300 966 845. Website here
Chocolatesuze attended the Baking with Brioche Workshop as a guest of Brasserie Bread
